Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space on 12 April 1961. His craft, Vostok 1, was launched from the Bakinour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and remained in flight for one hour and 48 minutes, completing just one orbit of the Earth. During the voyage, the ship reached a height of 200 miles above sea level and achieved an orbital speed of 17,000 miles an hour. [Writing courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation.]